Disclosed embodiments relate generally to packaging of semiconductors. More particularly, disclosed embodiments relate to semiconductor packages which are resistant to tampering, i.e. reverse engineering the function of, or extracting information from, the semiconductor device in the package.
The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In many applications, it can be beneficial to make semiconductor packages as tamper resistant as possible. For example, there are many instances where it could be desirable to either prevent reverse engineering of a semiconductor package, or at least to make reverse engineering a more difficult task. This can be true both with respect to protecting proprietary aspects of the semiconductor package circuitry itself, and with respect to protecting proprietary aspects of software used to program the semiconductor package.
One current approach to making semiconductor packages tamper resistant includes applying a specialized coating to a sensitive die. Efforts to remove the coating to access the die for reverse engineering hopefully then damage the die, which in many instances would prevent the goal of the tampering efforts (i.e., copying, reverse engineering, etc.) from being achieved. Application of the specialized coating can have certain associated costs or disadvantages. For example, the process of applying the specialized coating can be time consuming, potentially increasing associated manufacturing costs. The process can also be difficult to perform consistently on a large number of semiconductor packages. Further, the specialized coating and/or its application process can adversely impact component reliability, for example by interfering with component cooling, etc.